Marc Andrew "Pete" Mitscher (January 26, 1887 – February 3, 1947) was a pioneer in naval aviation who became an admiral in the United States Navy, and served as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the Pacific during World War II.
Early life and career Mitscher was born in Hillsboro, Wisconsin, on January 26, 1887, the son of Oscar and Myrta (Shear) Mitscher. Mitscher's grandfather, Andreas Mitscher (1821–1905), was a German immigrant from Traben-Trarbach. His other grandfather, Thomas J. Shear, was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. During the western land boom of 1889, when Marc was two years old, his family resettled in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where his father, a federal Indian agent, later became that city's second mayor. His uncle, Byron D. Shear, would also become mayor.
Mitscher attended elementary and secondary schools in Washington, D.C. He received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1904 through Bird Segle McGuire, then U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.
An indifferent student with a lackluster sense of military deportment, Mitscher's career at the naval academy did not portend the accomplishments he would achieve later in life. Nicknamed after Annapolis's first midshipman from Oklahoma, Peter Cassius Marcellus Cade, who had "bilged-out" in 1903, upperclassmen compelled young Mitscher to recite the entire name as a hazing. Soon he was referred to as "Oklahoma Pete", with the nickname shortened to just "Pete" by the winter of his youngster (sophomore) year.Taylor p. 21
Having amassed 159 demerits and showing poorly in his class work, Mitscher was saddled with a forced resignation at the end of his sophomore year. At the insistence of his father, Mitscher re-applied and was granted reappointment, though he had to re-enter the academy as a first year plebe.
This time the stoic Mitscher worked straight through, and on June 3, 1910, he graduated 113th out of a class of 131. Following graduation he served two years at sea aboard , and was commissioned ensign on March 7, 1912. In August 1913, he served aboard on the West Coast. During that time, Mexico was experiencing a political disturbance, and California was sent to protect U.S. interests and citizens. He married Frances Smalley on January 16, 1913.
Naval aviation
Mitscher took an early interest in aviation, requesting a transfer to aeronautics while aboard Colorado in his last year as a midshipman, but his request was not granted. After graduating he continued to make requests for transfer to aviation while serving on the destroyers and . Mitscher was in charge of the engine room on USS Stewart when orders to transfer to the Naval Aeronautic Station in Pensacola, Florida, came in.Taylor pp. 33–34
Mitscher was assigned to the armored cruiser , which was being used to experiment as a launching platform for aircraft. The ship had been fitted with a catapult over her fantail. Mitscher trained as a pilot, earning his wings and the designation Naval Aviator. Mitscher was one of the first naval aviators, receiving No. 33 on June 2, 1916. Almost a year later, on April 6, 1917, he reported to the renamed armored cruiser for duty in connection with aircraft catapult experiments. During World War I, the Navy established Naval Air Station Montauk in August 1917, commanded by LT Marc Mitscher. Reconnaissance dirigibles, an airplane, troops, and Coast Guard personnel were stationed at Montauk L.I. New York.
At this early date the Navy was interested in using aircraft for scouting purposes and as spotters for direction of their gunnery. Lieutenant Mitscher was placed in command of NAS Dinner Key in Coconut Grove, Florida. Dinner Key was the second largest naval air facility in the U.S. and was used to train seaplane pilots for the Naval Reserve Flying Corps. On July 18, 1918, he was promoted to lieutenant commander. In February 1919, he transferred from NAS Dinner Key to the Aviation Section in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, before reporting to Seaplane Division 1.
Interwar assignments (1919–1939) Transatlantic crossing
On May 10, 1919, Mitscher was among a group of naval aviators attempting the first transatlantic crossing by air. Among the men involved were fellow future admirals Jack Towers, Albert C. Read and Patrick N. L. Bellinger. Mitscher piloted NC-1, one of three Curtiss NC flying boats that attempted the flight, under the command of Bellinger. Taking off from Newfoundland, he nearly reached the Azores before heavy fog caused loss of the horizon, making flying in the early aircraft extremely dangerous. What appeared to be fairly calm seas at altitude turned out to be a heavy chop, and a control cable snapped while setting the aircraft down. Mitscher and his five crewmen were left to sit atop the upper wing of their "Nancy" while they waited to be rescued. Of the three aircraft making the attempt, only NC-4 under command of Read successfully completed the crossing. For his part in the effort Mitscher received the Navy Cross, the citation reading: "For distinguished service in the line of his profession as a member of the crew of the Seaplane NC-1, which made a long overseas flight from New Foundland to the vicinity of the Azores, in May 1919".The Navy Book of Distinguished Service: An Official Compendium of the Names and Citations of the Men of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Foreign Governments Who Were Decorated by the Navy Department for Extraordinary Gallantry and Conspicuous Service Above and Beyond the Call of Duty in the World War (editor: Harry R. Stringer, p 107, Fassett Publishing Company: Washington DC, 1921).
Mitscher was also made an officer of the Order of the Tower and Sword by the Portuguese government on June 3, 1919.
On October 14, 1919, Mitscher reported for duty aboard , a minelayer refitted as an "aircraft tender" that had been used as a support ship for the "Nancys' " transatlantic flight. He served under Captain Henry C. Mustin, another pioneering naval aviator. Aroostook was assigned temporary duties as flagship for the Air Detachment, Pacific Fleet. Mitscher was promoted to commander on July 1, 1921. In May 1922, he was detached from Air Squadrons, Pacific Fleet (San Diego, California) to command Naval Air Station Anacostia, D.C.Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, volume IA, pp. 400–402, Aroostook. Also, The Washington Post, Sunday edition, May 7, 1922, p. 6, column 3. Also, Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps, January 1, 1922, Washington Government Printing Office, 1922, p 36, no. in grade 458.
Service debates in Washington After six months in command at Anacostia he was assigned to a newly formed department, the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics. Here as a young aviator he assisted Rear Admiral William Moffett in defending the Navy's interest in air assets. General Billy Mitchell was advancing the idea that the nation was best defended by an independent service which would control all military aircraft. Though Mitscher was not a vocal member of the Navy's representatives, his knowledge of aircraft capabilities and limitations was instrumental in the Navy being able to answer Mitchell's challenge and retain their own air groups. The debate culminated in the hearings before the Morrow Board, convened to study the best means of applying aviation to national defense.Taylor p. 78 Mitscher testified before the board on October 6, 1925. General Mitchell sought public support for his position by taking his case directly to the people through the national press. For this action Mitchell was summoned for a court-martial. One of the witnesses called by the prosecution was Mitscher. In the end the Navy was left with its own air resources, and was allowed to continue to develop its own independent aviation branch.Taylor p. 79
California–Hawaii flight
Mitscher was one of six pilots who took part in a flight by six U.S. Navy Consolidated P2Y flying boats which set a new nonstop straight-line distance record of , as well as a new nonstop distance record for formation flying, in a flight from San Francisco, California, to Pearl Harbor in the Territory of Hawaii on January 10–11, 1934. They also set a new speed record for this crossing of 24 hours 35 minutes, averaging .
Development of the carrier air arm During the interwar period, Mitscher worked to develop naval aviation, taking assignments serving on the aircraft carriers and , on the seaplane tender , and as commanding officer of Patrol Wing 1, in addition to a number of assignments ashore. Langley was the Navy's first aircraft carrier. A converted collier, she could only make , thus limiting her ability to generate wind over her flight deck and lift under the wings of her aircraft for launching and recovery. Aboard Langley Mitscher and other naval aviation pioneers developed many of the methods by which aircraft would be handled aboard U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. Many of these techniques continue to be used in the current-day U.S. Navy.
During this period Mitscher was assigned command of the air group for the newly commissioned aircraft carrier Saratoga. Mitscher was the first person to land an airplane onto the flight deck of Saratoga as he brought his air group aboard.Taylor p. 82 The vessel conducted mock attacks against the Panama Canal and Pearl Harbor in a series of Fleet Problem exercises. The key lesson learned by the naval aviation officers during these exercises was the importance to locate and destroy the other side's flight decks as early as possible, while still preserving your own. In 1938, Mitscher was promoted to captain.
World War II
Between June 1939 and July 1941, Mitscher served as assistant chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics.
Carrier commander Mitscher's next assignment was as captain of the , being fitted out at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia.Taylor p. 102 Upon her commissioning in October 1941, he assumed command, taking Hornet to the Naval Station Norfolk for her training out period. She was there in Virginia when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Newest of the Navy's fleet carriers, Mitscher worked hard to get ship and crew ready for combat. Following her shake-down cruise in the Caribbean, Mitscher was consulted on the possibility of launching long-range bombers off the deck of a carrier. In April 1942, after affirming it could be done, the sixteen B-25 bombers of the Doolittle Raid were loaded on deck aboard Hornet for a transpacific voyage while Hornets own flight group was stored below deck in her hangar. Hornet rendezvoused with and Task Force 16 in the mid-Pacific just north of Hawaii. Under the command of Admiral Halsey, the task force proceeded in radio silence to a launch point from Japan. Enterprise provided the air cover for both aircraft carriers while Hornets flight deck was taken up ferrying the B-25s. Hornet, then, was the real life "Shangri-la" that President Roosevelt referred to as the source of the B-25s in his announcement of the bombing attack on Tokyo.
Battle of Midway